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Food taste 'not protected by copyright' rules EU court

bbc.com

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Re: Food taste 'not protected by copyright' rules EU court

#11

Post by toyg »

emilfihlman wrote: post #5

This is a strange common sense ruling from the EU, which is most often the lapdog of copyright trolls.

On food, EU authorities don’t mess about. There is a complicated set of regulations to mark “characteristic” food, which is enforced very rigorously across the continent. The problem seems to be that such regulations mostly cover traditional foodstuffs, whereas modern industrial concoctions (like this crappy cheese) are ignored. Claiming copyright was a somewhat-clever attempt to extend protections.

Re: Food taste 'not protected by copyright' rules EU court

#12

Post by CapitalistCartr »

mey wrote: post #4
CapitalistCartr wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the United States, smell copyright is well-established case law. Smells can be copyrighted if they're not a functional part of the product. Perfume no, smell added to shovels to distinguish your brand, sure. Edit: Trademark, not copyright, damn it!

Is that copyright or trademark?

Yes, trademark. I don't know what possessed me.

Re: Food taste 'not protected by copyright' rules EU court

#13

Post by type0 »

mey wrote: post #4
CapitalistCartr wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the United States, smell copyright is well-established case law. Smells can be copyrighted if they're not a functional part of the product. Perfume no, smell added to shovels to distinguish your brand, sure. Edit: Trademark, not copyright, damn it!

Is that copyright or trademark?

it's IP - i.e impossible plonkers

Re: Food taste 'not protected by copyright' rules EU court

#14

Post by mygo »

oh-kumudo wrote: post #9

Well, different people have different taste buds, how are you going to make sure there is a universally agreed representation, of taste?

well different people have different retinas, how are you going to make sure there is a universally agreed representation, of a colored trademark =p

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=evQsOFQju08

Re: Food taste 'not protected by copyright' rules EU court

#15

Post by mrob »

toyg wrote: post #11
emilfihlman wrote: post #5

This is a strange common sense ruling from the EU, which is most often the lapdog of copyright trolls.

On food, EU authorities don’t mess about. There is a complicated set of regulations to mark “characteristic” food, which is enforced very rigorously across the continent. The problem seems to be that such regulations mostly cover traditional foodstuffs, whereas modern industrial concoctions (like this crappy cheese) are ignored. Claiming copyright was a somewhat-clever attempt to extend protections.

The EU protected designation of origin etc. rights are effectively trademarks, so unlike copyrights or patents there's no harm to consumers. You're free to introduce competing products with the same taste under a different name, e.g. Champagne has to be produced in Champagne in France with specific ingredients and technique, but Spain produces Cava, which is almost identical.

Re: Food taste 'not protected by copyright' rules EU court

#17

Post by qaminsod »

mygo wrote: post #14
oh-kumudo wrote: post #9

Well, different people have different taste buds, how are you going to make sure there is a universally agreed representation, of taste?

well different people have different retinas, how are you going to make sure there is a universally agreed representation, of a colored trademark =p https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=evQsOFQju08

People have different interpretations of the world, how are you going to make sure of anything?

Re: Food taste 'not protected by copyright' rules EU court

#18

Post by [deleted] »

mygo wrote: post #14
oh-kumudo wrote: post #9

Well, different people have different taste buds, how are you going to make sure there is a universally agreed representation, of taste?

well different people have different retinas, how are you going to make sure there is a universally agreed representation, of a colored trademark =p https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=evQsOFQju08

[deleted]

Re: Food taste 'not protected by copyright' rules EU court

#19

Post by akira2501 »

qaminsod wrote: post #17
mygo wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

well different people have different retinas, how are you going to make sure there is a universally agreed representation, of a colored trademark =p https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=evQsOFQju08

People have different interpretations of the world, how are you going to make sure of anything?

You don't need to.. you have a reference standard and a mechanical means of comparison. Now we're not quibbling over the multitude of interpretations but over a single repeatable test and a single output number.

Re: Food taste 'not protected by copyright' rules EU court

#20

Post by mygo »

qaminsod wrote: post #17
mygo wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

well different people have different retinas, how are you going to make sure there is a universally agreed representation, of a colored trademark =p https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=evQsOFQju08

People have different interpretations of the world, how are you going to make sure of anything?

Yep you can make sense of it. Everyone can, and does. It happens every time cars stop at a red stop light.

I don’t know how red looks to you, but every time you see red, you know it’s red. Even if red looks to you like green looks to me, when we both approach a red stop light we will both stop. We can be sure of that. Even though we may perceive the same red stop light differently, we can still interpret it to mean “stop”.

Same for taste. You know when you’re eating a Big Mac and when you’re not. Even if it tastes different to you than it does for me. And more importantly, a Big Mac tastes like a Bic Mac to you every time. The results are repeatable, so long as you’re the constant.

So yep perception is inconsistent between people, but within an individual you do have consistency. The individual is the reference point.

Anyways hope people don’t take this as some sort of endorsement for trademarking taste. It’s more of an observation about the nature of perception.

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